76 according to
Hieronymus
(in defeated, and nearly lost his life in the battle
Euseb.
Euseb.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
) Lucan.
(Stat.
Silv.
ü.
7.
62, &c.
; Martial, vii.
21,
POʻLEMON, of Alexandria, a painter men- 23, x. 64. )
tioned by Pliny among those who were non igno- POLLE’NIUS SEBENNUS, lived in the
biles quidem, in transcursu tamen dicendi (H. N. reign of Alexander Severus (Dion Cass. Ixxvi. 9. )
xxxv. 11. 6. 40. 42).
[P. S. ] POLLES (róxins). Suidas mentions (s. v. Me
POʻLIAS (Nonies), i. e. “ the goddess protect- Adunovs), that Melampus and Polles had acquired
ing the city," a surname of Athena at Athens, such celebrity as diviners, that there was a current
where she was especially worshipped as the pro proverb, “ It needs a Melampus or a Polles to divine
tecting divinity of the acropolis. (Paus. i. 27. & 1; it. ” He was a native of Aegae in Asia Minor, and
Arnob. adv. Gent. vi. 193. )
(L. S. ] wrote copiously on the subject of divination in all
PO’LICHUS, artist. [PTOLICH US. ]
its forms; as on the prognostications to be derived
POLIEUS (Ionieus)," the protector of the from the objects that met a traveller on his way;
city,” a surname of Zeus, under which he had an from what occurred at home ; regarding the result
altar on the acropolis at Athens. Upon this altar of diseases; and similar subjects, for wbich see
barley and wheat were strewed, which were con- Suidas (s. τη. Οιωνιστικήν, Πάλλης). [W. M. G. ]
sumed by the bull about to be sacrificed to the god. POLLEX, one of Cicero's slaves. (Cic. ad Fam.
The priest who killed the victim, threw away the xiv. 6, ad Att. viii. 5, xiii. 46, 47. )
axe as soon as he had struck the fatal blow, and POLLIANUS (IIw. Mavós), an epigrammatic
the axe was then brought before a court of justice. poet, five of whose pieces are preserved in the
(Paus. i. 24. § 4, 28. § 11. )
(L. S. ] Greek Anthology. From the first of these epigrama
POLI'OCH US (Furioxos), an Athenian comic it is probable that he was a grammarian ; the third
poet, of uncertain age, of whom two fragments only | is addressed to a poet named Florus, who is pos-
occur in Athenaeus (vii. p. 313, c. ii. p. 60, c. ), sibly the Florus who lived under Hadrian ; but
the one from his Kopivêlaotńs, and the other from there is no other indication of the writer's age.
a play, of which the title is not mentioned. (Mei- (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. p. 439 ; Jacobs, Arth.
neke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 498, vol. iv. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 146, 147, vol. xiii. p. 910. ) [P. S. )
pp. 589, 590. )
(P. S. ) POʻLLIO, artists. 1. A gem-engraver (Bracci,
POLIORCEʼTES, DEME'TRIUS. [Deme- Praef. ad Comm. ii. p. 6).
TRIUS, p. 962. ]
2. C. Postumius, an architect, whose name occurs
POLIS, a statuary, mentioned by Pliny among in an inscription in the cathedral at Terracina ;
those who made athletas et armatos et venatores sa- from which it may be inferred, with much probabi-
crificantesque (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. & 34). [P. S. ) | lity, that he was the architect of the celebrated
POLI'TES (Tonítns). 1. A son of Priam and temple of Apollo at that place. From another in-
Hecabe, and father of Priam the younger, was a scription it appears that C. Cocceius, the architect
valiant warrior, but was slain by Pyrrhus. (Hom. of the temple of Augustus at Pozzuoli, was the
II. ii. 791, xiii. 533, xxiv. 250 ; Virg. Aen. ii. 526, freedman and disciple of this Postumius Pollio.
v. 564. )
(R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 440—441,
2. A companion of Odysseus, who is said to 2nd ed. )
[P. S. ]
have been worshipped as a hero at Temesa in Italy. POʻLLIO, A'NNIUS, was accused of treason
(Hom. Od. x. 224 ; Strab. vi. p. 255. )
(majestas) towards the end of the reign of Tibe-
3. One of the companions of Menelaus. (Paus rius, but was not brought to trial. He was sub
x. 25. § 2. )
[L. S. ) sequently one of Nero's intimate friends, but was
vu.
## p. 437 (#453) ############################################
POLLIO.
437
POLLIO.
notwithstanding accused of taking part in Piso's Caesar next year, B. C. 45, in his campaign in
conspiracy against that emperor in A. D. 63, and Spain, and on his return to Rome must have been
was in consequence banished. His wife's name one of the fourteen praetors, whom Caesar ap-
was Servilia. (Tuc. Ann. vi. 9, xv. 56, 71, xvi. pointed in the course of this year, since we find
30. )
him called praetorius in the history of B. C. 44. (Vell.
POʻLLIO, ANTIUS, one of the consules suf- Pat. ii. 73. ) He did not, however, remain long
fecti in A. D. 155 (Fasti).
in Rome, for Caesar sent him again into Spain,
POʻLLIO, ASI'NIUS. 1. C. A SINIUS POLLIO, with the command of the Further Province, in
a distinguished orator, poet and historian of the order to prosecute the war against Sex. Pompey,
Augustan age. He was descended from a family who had again collected a considerable force since
of the Marrucini, and he may have been a grand the battle of Munda. Ile was in his province at
son of the Herins Asinius, who commanded this the time of Caesar's death on the 15th of March,
people in the Marsic war. We learn from the B. C. 44, and his campaign against Sextus is
Fasti Capitolini, and from inscriptions, that his described by his panegyrist Velleius Paterculus
father's name was Cncius Pollio was born at (1. c. ) as most glorious ; but he was, in fact,
Rome in B. c.
76 according to Hieronymus (in defeated, and nearly lost his life in the battle
Euseb. Chron. ), and he had consequently frequent (Dion Cass. xlv. 10). He would probably have
opportunities of bearing in his youth Cicero, been unable to maintain his position in his pro-
Caesar, Hortensius, and the other great orators of vince, if a peace had not been concluded after
the age. He was early fired with the ambition of Caesar's death between Rome and Sextus. This
treading in the footsteps of these illustrious men, was brought about by the mediation of Antony
and accordingly in B. c. 54, when he was only and Lepidus ; Sextus quitted Spain, but Pollio
twenty-two ears of age, he came forward as the continued quietly in his province.
accuser of C. Cato, on account of the disturbances On the breaking out of the war between Antony
which the latter had caused in B. C. 56, when he and the senate in B. C. 43, Pollio was strongly
was tribune of the plebs. Cato was defended by pressed to assist the latter with troops. In his
C. Licinius Calvus and M. Scaurus ; but as the letters to Cicero, three of which have come down
illegal acts of which he was accused, had been to us (ad Fam. x. 31-33), he expresses great
performed to favour the election of Pompey and devotion to the cause of the senate, but alleges
Crassus to the consulship, he was now supported various reasons why it is impossible for him to
by the powerful influence of the former, and was comply with their request. Like most of Caesar's
accordingly acquitted. It can scarcely be inferred other friends, he probably did not in heart
from this accusation that Pollio was in favour of wish success to the senatorial party, but at the
the republican party; he probably only wished same time would not commit himself to Antony.
to attract attention, and obtain celebrity by his Even when the latter was joined by Lepidus, he
hold attack against one of the creatures of the still hesitated to declare in their favour ; but when
triumvirs. At all events, he espoused Caesar's Octavian espoused their side, and compelled the
party, when a rupture at length took place be senate in the month of Augnist to repeal the sen-
tween Caesar and Pompey, and repaired to Caesar tence of outlawry which had been pronounced
in Cisalpine Gaul probably in the course of B. c. against them, Pollio at length joined them with
50. He accompanied Caesar in his passage across three legions, and persuaded L. Plancus in Gaul
the Rubicon at the beginning of B. c. 49, on which to follow his example. Octavian, Antony, and
occasion he is mentioned in a manner that would Lepidus then formed the triumvirate, and deter-
indicate that he was one of Caesar's intimate mined who should be consuls for the next five
friends (Plut. Caes. 32), and was a witness of years. Pollio was nominated for B. C. 40, but
his triumphal progress through the towns of Italy. was in return obliged to consent to the proscription
After Caesar bad obtained possession of Italy of his father-in-law, L. Quintius.
Pollio was sent, under the command of Curio, to In the division of the provinces among the tri-
drive M. Cato out of Sicily, and from thence umvirs, Antony received the Gauls with the
crossed over with Curio into Africa. After the exception of the Narbonese. The administration
unfortunate battle, in which Curio was defeated of the Transpadane Gaul was committed to Pollio
by King Juba, and in which he lost his life, Pollio by Antony, and he had accordingly the difficult
hastened back to the camp at Utica, collected the task of settling the veterans in the lands which
remains of the army, and with difficulty made his had been assigned to them in this province. It
escape by sea. He now joined Caesar, accom- was upon this occasion that he saved the property
panied him in his campaign against Pompey in of the poet Virgil at Mantua from confiscation,
Greece, and was present at the battle of Pharsalia, whom he took under his protection from his love
B. C. 48, which he could therefore describe as an of literature. In the Perusinian war which was
eye-witness. After the battle of Pharsalia he carried on by Fulvia and L. Antonius against
returned to Rome, and was probably tribune of Octavian in B. C. 41 and 40, Pollio, like the other
the plebs in B. C. 47, since he is mentioned in legates of Antony, took little part, as he did not
that year as one of the opponents of the tribune know the views and wishes of his commander.
Dolabella, who was endeavouring to carry a mea. Octavian compelled him to resign the province to
sure for the abolition of all debts (Plut. Anton. 9), Alſenus Varus; and as Antony, the triumvir, was
and as a private person he could not have offered now expected from Greece, Pollio exerted him-
any open resistance to a tribune. In the following self to keep possession of the sea-coast in order to
year, B. C. 46, Pollio fought under Caesar against secure his landing, since an open rupture between
the Pompeian party in Africa, and he related in Octavian and Antony seemed now almost inevi-
his history how he and Caesar on one occasion had table. He was fortunate in securing the co-operation
driven back the enemy when their troops were of Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was cruising in the
surprised (Plut. Caes. 52). He also accompanied Ionian sea with a squadron of ships which had
PP 3
## p. 438 (#454) ############################################
438
POLLIO.
POLLIO.
formed part of the fleet of Brutus and Cassius.
“ Insigne maestis praesidium reis
The threatened war, however, did not break out ;
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiae ;"
and a reconciliation took place at Brundusium
between Octavian and Antony in B. C. 40, at and we have also the more impartial testimony of
which Pollio acted the part of mediator. Pollio Quintilian, the two Senecas and the author of the
Tetumed to Rome with the triumvirs, and now be- Dialogue on Orators to the greatness of his ora-
came consul with Cn. Domitius Calvinus, according torical powers. Belonging as he did both to the
to the promise made him three years before. It was Ciceronian and the Augustan age, the orations of
during his consulship that Virgil addressed to him Pollio partook somewhat of the character of each
his fourth Eclogue.
period. They possessed the fertility of invention
In the following year, B. C. 39, Antony went to and the power of thought of the earlier period, but
Greece, and sent Pollio with a part of his army to at the same time somewhat of the artificial and
fight against the Parthini, an Illyrian people, who elaborate rhetoric which began to characterise the
had espoused the side of Brutus and Cassius. style of the empire. There was an excessive care
Pollio was successful in his expedition ; he defeated bestowed upon the composition, and at the same
the Parthini and took the Dalmatian town of Sa-time a fondness for ancient words and expressions,
Jonae ; and in consequence of his success obtained which often obscured the meaning of his speeches,
the honour of a triumph on the 25th of October in and detracted much from the pleasure of his hearers
this year. He gave his son Asinius Gallus the and readers. Hence the author of the Dialogue
agnomen of Saloninus after the town which he had on Orators (c. 21) speaks of him as durus et siccus,
taken. It was during his Illyrian campaign that and Quintilian says (x. 1. $ 113) that so far is he
Virgil addressed to him the eighth Eclogue (see from possessing the brilliant and pleasing style of
especially ll. 6, 7, 12).
Cicero (nitor et jucunditas Ciceronis), that he might
From this time Pollio withdrew altogether from appear to belong to the age preceding that of the
political life, and devoted himself to the study of great orator. We may infer that there was a de-
Jiterature. He still continued however to exercise gree of pedantry and an affectation of learning in
his oratorical powers, and maintained his repu- his speeches ; and it was probably the same desire
tation for eloquence by his speeches both in the of exhibiting his reading, which led him to make
senate and the courts of justice. When the war | frequent quotations from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius,
broke out between Octavian and Antony, the and the other ancient poets. (Quintil. i. 8. $ 11, ix.
former asked Pollio to accompany him in the cam. 4. 76. ) The care however with which he com-
paign ; but he declined on account of his former posed his speeches—his diligentia—forms an espe
friendship with Antony, and Octavian admitted cial subject of praise with Quintilian. (Comp. in
the validity of his excuse. He lived to see the general Quintil. x. 1. $ 113, 1. 2. $ 25, xii 11. §
supremacy of Augustus fully established, and died 28 ; Senec. Controv. iv. Praef. p. 441, Suas. vi. p.
at his Tusculan villa, A. D. 4, in the eightieth year 50 ; Senec. Ep. 100 ; Auct. Dial de Orat. 17, 21,
of his age, preserving to the last the full enjoyment 25. ) Meyer has collected the titles of eleven of his
of his health and of all his faculties. (Val. Max. orations. (Orator. Roman. Fragın. p. 491, &c. )
viii. 13. & 4. )
As an historian Pollio was celebrated for his
Asinius Pollio deserves a distinguished place in history of the civil wars in seventeen books. It
the history of Roman literature, not so much on commenced with the consulship of Metellus and
account of his works, as of the encouragement | Afranius, B. C. 60, in which year the first trium-
which he gave to literature. He was not only a virate was formed, and appears to have come down
patron of Virgil, Horace (see Carm. ii. 1), and to the time when Augustus obtained the undis-
other great poets and writers, but he has the puted supremacy of the Roman world. It has
honour of having been the first person to establish been erroneously supposed by some modern writers
a public library at Rome, upon which he expended from a passage in Plutarch (Caes. 46), that this
the money he had obtained in his Illyrian cam-
work was written in Greek. Pollio was a con-
paign. (Plin. H. N. vii. 3, xxxv. 2. ) He also temporary of the whole period embraced in his
introduced the practice of which Martial and other history, and was an eye-witness of many of the
later writers so frequently complain, of reading all important erents which he describes. His work
his works before a large circle of friends and was thus one of great value, and is cited by subse-
critics, in order to obtain their judgment and quent writers in terms of the highest commendation.
opinion before making them public. (Senec. Con- It appears to have been rich in anecdotes about
trov. iv. Praef. p. 441. ) None of Pollio's own Caesar, but the judgment which he passed upon
works have come down to us, but they possessed Cicero appeared to the elder Seneca unjustly severe.
sufficient merit to lead his contemporaries and suc-
Pollio was assisted to some extent in the compo-
cessors to class his name with those of Cicero, sition of the work by the grammarian Atteius
Virgil and Sallust, as an orator, a poet and an his- Philologus, who drew up for his use certain rules
torian. It was however as an orator that he which might be useful to him in writing. (Suid.
possessed the greatest reputation. We have already s. v. 'Agivvios ; Senec. Suas. vi. vii. ; Hor. Carm.
seen that he distinguished himself when he was ii. 1 ; Suet. Caes. 30, De II. Gram. 10 ; Plut.
only twenty-two by his speech against C. Cato : Caes. 46 ; Tac. Ann. iv. 34 ; Appian, B. C. ii.
Catullus describes him in his youth (Carm. xii. 82 ; Val. Max. viii. 13. ext. 4. )
9) as
As a poet Pollio was best known for his trage-
dies, which are spoken of in high terms by Virgil
and Horace, but which probably did not possess
Disertus puer et facetiarum,"
any great merit, as they are hardly mentioned by
subsequent writers, and only one fragment of them
and Horace speaks of him in the full maturity of is preserved by the grammarians. (Virg. Ed. iii.
his powers (Curm, ii.
POʻLEMON, of Alexandria, a painter men- 23, x. 64. )
tioned by Pliny among those who were non igno- POLLE’NIUS SEBENNUS, lived in the
biles quidem, in transcursu tamen dicendi (H. N. reign of Alexander Severus (Dion Cass. Ixxvi. 9. )
xxxv. 11. 6. 40. 42).
[P. S. ] POLLES (róxins). Suidas mentions (s. v. Me
POʻLIAS (Nonies), i. e. “ the goddess protect- Adunovs), that Melampus and Polles had acquired
ing the city," a surname of Athena at Athens, such celebrity as diviners, that there was a current
where she was especially worshipped as the pro proverb, “ It needs a Melampus or a Polles to divine
tecting divinity of the acropolis. (Paus. i. 27. & 1; it. ” He was a native of Aegae in Asia Minor, and
Arnob. adv. Gent. vi. 193. )
(L. S. ] wrote copiously on the subject of divination in all
PO’LICHUS, artist. [PTOLICH US. ]
its forms; as on the prognostications to be derived
POLIEUS (Ionieus)," the protector of the from the objects that met a traveller on his way;
city,” a surname of Zeus, under which he had an from what occurred at home ; regarding the result
altar on the acropolis at Athens. Upon this altar of diseases; and similar subjects, for wbich see
barley and wheat were strewed, which were con- Suidas (s. τη. Οιωνιστικήν, Πάλλης). [W. M. G. ]
sumed by the bull about to be sacrificed to the god. POLLEX, one of Cicero's slaves. (Cic. ad Fam.
The priest who killed the victim, threw away the xiv. 6, ad Att. viii. 5, xiii. 46, 47. )
axe as soon as he had struck the fatal blow, and POLLIANUS (IIw. Mavós), an epigrammatic
the axe was then brought before a court of justice. poet, five of whose pieces are preserved in the
(Paus. i. 24. § 4, 28. § 11. )
(L. S. ] Greek Anthology. From the first of these epigrama
POLI'OCH US (Furioxos), an Athenian comic it is probable that he was a grammarian ; the third
poet, of uncertain age, of whom two fragments only | is addressed to a poet named Florus, who is pos-
occur in Athenaeus (vii. p. 313, c. ii. p. 60, c. ), sibly the Florus who lived under Hadrian ; but
the one from his Kopivêlaotńs, and the other from there is no other indication of the writer's age.
a play, of which the title is not mentioned. (Mei- (Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. p. 439 ; Jacobs, Arth.
neke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. p. 498, vol. iv. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 146, 147, vol. xiii. p. 910. ) [P. S. )
pp. 589, 590. )
(P. S. ) POʻLLIO, artists. 1. A gem-engraver (Bracci,
POLIORCEʼTES, DEME'TRIUS. [Deme- Praef. ad Comm. ii. p. 6).
TRIUS, p. 962. ]
2. C. Postumius, an architect, whose name occurs
POLIS, a statuary, mentioned by Pliny among in an inscription in the cathedral at Terracina ;
those who made athletas et armatos et venatores sa- from which it may be inferred, with much probabi-
crificantesque (H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. & 34). [P. S. ) | lity, that he was the architect of the celebrated
POLI'TES (Tonítns). 1. A son of Priam and temple of Apollo at that place. From another in-
Hecabe, and father of Priam the younger, was a scription it appears that C. Cocceius, the architect
valiant warrior, but was slain by Pyrrhus. (Hom. of the temple of Augustus at Pozzuoli, was the
II. ii. 791, xiii. 533, xxiv. 250 ; Virg. Aen. ii. 526, freedman and disciple of this Postumius Pollio.
v. 564. )
(R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 440—441,
2. A companion of Odysseus, who is said to 2nd ed. )
[P. S. ]
have been worshipped as a hero at Temesa in Italy. POʻLLIO, A'NNIUS, was accused of treason
(Hom. Od. x. 224 ; Strab. vi. p. 255. )
(majestas) towards the end of the reign of Tibe-
3. One of the companions of Menelaus. (Paus rius, but was not brought to trial. He was sub
x. 25. § 2. )
[L. S. ) sequently one of Nero's intimate friends, but was
vu.
## p. 437 (#453) ############################################
POLLIO.
437
POLLIO.
notwithstanding accused of taking part in Piso's Caesar next year, B. C. 45, in his campaign in
conspiracy against that emperor in A. D. 63, and Spain, and on his return to Rome must have been
was in consequence banished. His wife's name one of the fourteen praetors, whom Caesar ap-
was Servilia. (Tuc. Ann. vi. 9, xv. 56, 71, xvi. pointed in the course of this year, since we find
30. )
him called praetorius in the history of B. C. 44. (Vell.
POʻLLIO, ANTIUS, one of the consules suf- Pat. ii. 73. ) He did not, however, remain long
fecti in A. D. 155 (Fasti).
in Rome, for Caesar sent him again into Spain,
POʻLLIO, ASI'NIUS. 1. C. A SINIUS POLLIO, with the command of the Further Province, in
a distinguished orator, poet and historian of the order to prosecute the war against Sex. Pompey,
Augustan age. He was descended from a family who had again collected a considerable force since
of the Marrucini, and he may have been a grand the battle of Munda. Ile was in his province at
son of the Herins Asinius, who commanded this the time of Caesar's death on the 15th of March,
people in the Marsic war. We learn from the B. C. 44, and his campaign against Sextus is
Fasti Capitolini, and from inscriptions, that his described by his panegyrist Velleius Paterculus
father's name was Cncius Pollio was born at (1. c. ) as most glorious ; but he was, in fact,
Rome in B. c.
76 according to Hieronymus (in defeated, and nearly lost his life in the battle
Euseb. Chron. ), and he had consequently frequent (Dion Cass. xlv. 10). He would probably have
opportunities of bearing in his youth Cicero, been unable to maintain his position in his pro-
Caesar, Hortensius, and the other great orators of vince, if a peace had not been concluded after
the age. He was early fired with the ambition of Caesar's death between Rome and Sextus. This
treading in the footsteps of these illustrious men, was brought about by the mediation of Antony
and accordingly in B. c. 54, when he was only and Lepidus ; Sextus quitted Spain, but Pollio
twenty-two ears of age, he came forward as the continued quietly in his province.
accuser of C. Cato, on account of the disturbances On the breaking out of the war between Antony
which the latter had caused in B. C. 56, when he and the senate in B. C. 43, Pollio was strongly
was tribune of the plebs. Cato was defended by pressed to assist the latter with troops. In his
C. Licinius Calvus and M. Scaurus ; but as the letters to Cicero, three of which have come down
illegal acts of which he was accused, had been to us (ad Fam. x. 31-33), he expresses great
performed to favour the election of Pompey and devotion to the cause of the senate, but alleges
Crassus to the consulship, he was now supported various reasons why it is impossible for him to
by the powerful influence of the former, and was comply with their request. Like most of Caesar's
accordingly acquitted. It can scarcely be inferred other friends, he probably did not in heart
from this accusation that Pollio was in favour of wish success to the senatorial party, but at the
the republican party; he probably only wished same time would not commit himself to Antony.
to attract attention, and obtain celebrity by his Even when the latter was joined by Lepidus, he
hold attack against one of the creatures of the still hesitated to declare in their favour ; but when
triumvirs. At all events, he espoused Caesar's Octavian espoused their side, and compelled the
party, when a rupture at length took place be senate in the month of Augnist to repeal the sen-
tween Caesar and Pompey, and repaired to Caesar tence of outlawry which had been pronounced
in Cisalpine Gaul probably in the course of B. c. against them, Pollio at length joined them with
50. He accompanied Caesar in his passage across three legions, and persuaded L. Plancus in Gaul
the Rubicon at the beginning of B. c. 49, on which to follow his example. Octavian, Antony, and
occasion he is mentioned in a manner that would Lepidus then formed the triumvirate, and deter-
indicate that he was one of Caesar's intimate mined who should be consuls for the next five
friends (Plut. Caes. 32), and was a witness of years. Pollio was nominated for B. C. 40, but
his triumphal progress through the towns of Italy. was in return obliged to consent to the proscription
After Caesar bad obtained possession of Italy of his father-in-law, L. Quintius.
Pollio was sent, under the command of Curio, to In the division of the provinces among the tri-
drive M. Cato out of Sicily, and from thence umvirs, Antony received the Gauls with the
crossed over with Curio into Africa. After the exception of the Narbonese. The administration
unfortunate battle, in which Curio was defeated of the Transpadane Gaul was committed to Pollio
by King Juba, and in which he lost his life, Pollio by Antony, and he had accordingly the difficult
hastened back to the camp at Utica, collected the task of settling the veterans in the lands which
remains of the army, and with difficulty made his had been assigned to them in this province. It
escape by sea. He now joined Caesar, accom- was upon this occasion that he saved the property
panied him in his campaign against Pompey in of the poet Virgil at Mantua from confiscation,
Greece, and was present at the battle of Pharsalia, whom he took under his protection from his love
B. C. 48, which he could therefore describe as an of literature. In the Perusinian war which was
eye-witness. After the battle of Pharsalia he carried on by Fulvia and L. Antonius against
returned to Rome, and was probably tribune of Octavian in B. C. 41 and 40, Pollio, like the other
the plebs in B. C. 47, since he is mentioned in legates of Antony, took little part, as he did not
that year as one of the opponents of the tribune know the views and wishes of his commander.
Dolabella, who was endeavouring to carry a mea. Octavian compelled him to resign the province to
sure for the abolition of all debts (Plut. Anton. 9), Alſenus Varus; and as Antony, the triumvir, was
and as a private person he could not have offered now expected from Greece, Pollio exerted him-
any open resistance to a tribune. In the following self to keep possession of the sea-coast in order to
year, B. C. 46, Pollio fought under Caesar against secure his landing, since an open rupture between
the Pompeian party in Africa, and he related in Octavian and Antony seemed now almost inevi-
his history how he and Caesar on one occasion had table. He was fortunate in securing the co-operation
driven back the enemy when their troops were of Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was cruising in the
surprised (Plut. Caes. 52). He also accompanied Ionian sea with a squadron of ships which had
PP 3
## p. 438 (#454) ############################################
438
POLLIO.
POLLIO.
formed part of the fleet of Brutus and Cassius.
“ Insigne maestis praesidium reis
The threatened war, however, did not break out ;
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiae ;"
and a reconciliation took place at Brundusium
between Octavian and Antony in B. C. 40, at and we have also the more impartial testimony of
which Pollio acted the part of mediator. Pollio Quintilian, the two Senecas and the author of the
Tetumed to Rome with the triumvirs, and now be- Dialogue on Orators to the greatness of his ora-
came consul with Cn. Domitius Calvinus, according torical powers. Belonging as he did both to the
to the promise made him three years before. It was Ciceronian and the Augustan age, the orations of
during his consulship that Virgil addressed to him Pollio partook somewhat of the character of each
his fourth Eclogue.
period. They possessed the fertility of invention
In the following year, B. C. 39, Antony went to and the power of thought of the earlier period, but
Greece, and sent Pollio with a part of his army to at the same time somewhat of the artificial and
fight against the Parthini, an Illyrian people, who elaborate rhetoric which began to characterise the
had espoused the side of Brutus and Cassius. style of the empire. There was an excessive care
Pollio was successful in his expedition ; he defeated bestowed upon the composition, and at the same
the Parthini and took the Dalmatian town of Sa-time a fondness for ancient words and expressions,
Jonae ; and in consequence of his success obtained which often obscured the meaning of his speeches,
the honour of a triumph on the 25th of October in and detracted much from the pleasure of his hearers
this year. He gave his son Asinius Gallus the and readers. Hence the author of the Dialogue
agnomen of Saloninus after the town which he had on Orators (c. 21) speaks of him as durus et siccus,
taken. It was during his Illyrian campaign that and Quintilian says (x. 1. $ 113) that so far is he
Virgil addressed to him the eighth Eclogue (see from possessing the brilliant and pleasing style of
especially ll. 6, 7, 12).
Cicero (nitor et jucunditas Ciceronis), that he might
From this time Pollio withdrew altogether from appear to belong to the age preceding that of the
political life, and devoted himself to the study of great orator. We may infer that there was a de-
Jiterature. He still continued however to exercise gree of pedantry and an affectation of learning in
his oratorical powers, and maintained his repu- his speeches ; and it was probably the same desire
tation for eloquence by his speeches both in the of exhibiting his reading, which led him to make
senate and the courts of justice. When the war | frequent quotations from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius,
broke out between Octavian and Antony, the and the other ancient poets. (Quintil. i. 8. $ 11, ix.
former asked Pollio to accompany him in the cam. 4. 76. ) The care however with which he com-
paign ; but he declined on account of his former posed his speeches—his diligentia—forms an espe
friendship with Antony, and Octavian admitted cial subject of praise with Quintilian. (Comp. in
the validity of his excuse. He lived to see the general Quintil. x. 1. $ 113, 1. 2. $ 25, xii 11. §
supremacy of Augustus fully established, and died 28 ; Senec. Controv. iv. Praef. p. 441, Suas. vi. p.
at his Tusculan villa, A. D. 4, in the eightieth year 50 ; Senec. Ep. 100 ; Auct. Dial de Orat. 17, 21,
of his age, preserving to the last the full enjoyment 25. ) Meyer has collected the titles of eleven of his
of his health and of all his faculties. (Val. Max. orations. (Orator. Roman. Fragın. p. 491, &c. )
viii. 13. & 4. )
As an historian Pollio was celebrated for his
Asinius Pollio deserves a distinguished place in history of the civil wars in seventeen books. It
the history of Roman literature, not so much on commenced with the consulship of Metellus and
account of his works, as of the encouragement | Afranius, B. C. 60, in which year the first trium-
which he gave to literature. He was not only a virate was formed, and appears to have come down
patron of Virgil, Horace (see Carm. ii. 1), and to the time when Augustus obtained the undis-
other great poets and writers, but he has the puted supremacy of the Roman world. It has
honour of having been the first person to establish been erroneously supposed by some modern writers
a public library at Rome, upon which he expended from a passage in Plutarch (Caes. 46), that this
the money he had obtained in his Illyrian cam-
work was written in Greek. Pollio was a con-
paign. (Plin. H. N. vii. 3, xxxv. 2. ) He also temporary of the whole period embraced in his
introduced the practice of which Martial and other history, and was an eye-witness of many of the
later writers so frequently complain, of reading all important erents which he describes. His work
his works before a large circle of friends and was thus one of great value, and is cited by subse-
critics, in order to obtain their judgment and quent writers in terms of the highest commendation.
opinion before making them public. (Senec. Con- It appears to have been rich in anecdotes about
trov. iv. Praef. p. 441. ) None of Pollio's own Caesar, but the judgment which he passed upon
works have come down to us, but they possessed Cicero appeared to the elder Seneca unjustly severe.
sufficient merit to lead his contemporaries and suc-
Pollio was assisted to some extent in the compo-
cessors to class his name with those of Cicero, sition of the work by the grammarian Atteius
Virgil and Sallust, as an orator, a poet and an his- Philologus, who drew up for his use certain rules
torian. It was however as an orator that he which might be useful to him in writing. (Suid.
possessed the greatest reputation. We have already s. v. 'Agivvios ; Senec. Suas. vi. vii. ; Hor. Carm.
seen that he distinguished himself when he was ii. 1 ; Suet. Caes. 30, De II. Gram. 10 ; Plut.
only twenty-two by his speech against C. Cato : Caes. 46 ; Tac. Ann. iv. 34 ; Appian, B. C. ii.
Catullus describes him in his youth (Carm. xii. 82 ; Val. Max. viii. 13. ext. 4. )
9) as
As a poet Pollio was best known for his trage-
dies, which are spoken of in high terms by Virgil
and Horace, but which probably did not possess
Disertus puer et facetiarum,"
any great merit, as they are hardly mentioned by
subsequent writers, and only one fragment of them
and Horace speaks of him in the full maturity of is preserved by the grammarians. (Virg. Ed. iii.
his powers (Curm, ii.
